Hit Man
by Secret Spy Guy
Summary: Nighttime...Below him, an old man shoved a key into his jacket pocket, walking briskly down the street. For a few moments, Phantom watched him...before leaping from his perch atop a lamppost, and taking to the air. He had work to do...
1. The Killing

**Spy Guy: I'm not going to lie. This is weird. Pretty gruesome in parts. This was my attempt at something different, a story that would keep readers guessing. I'm not sure if I succeeded, but I would be nice if y'all could send a review my way and let me know. I would really appreciate it.**

**(P.S: The characters are a few years older than they were in the show. alright? Danny would be a freshman in college right now. Savvy? Alright. Let's begin) **

**I don't own Danny Phantom...or a mac book. Both would be really appreciated. **

* * *

In the dormant shrouds of night, he lay waiting, green eyes simmering in the inky blackness. Below him, an old man shoved a key into his jacket pocket, walking briskly down the street. For a few moments, Phantom watched him...before leaping from his perch atop a lamppost, and taking to the air.

He had work to do.

The man was in no hurry, carrying his briefcase confidently beneath his arm, along with a stack of papers. Phantom floated behind him, his lips curling into a sadistic grin.

His target shivered, pausing a moment to button up his jacket. Phantom could see the confusion written plainly on the old man's face. It was the middle of July, and had, only seconds before, been very warm and muggy. The man had even entertained thought of taking his jacket _off_. But now, he was freezing, goosebumps popping up all along his arms.

Phantom laughed...which only served to confuse the target even more. He was looking around, franticly searching for another soul on the street as his mind struggled to explain the sudden misplaced sound in the night.

Phantom enjoyed nothing more than toying with his victims...it was so much fun...

But...

His smile faded as he remembered the true reason for why he had come. It wasn't to play with his prey until it ran screaming through the night. It was to make the man regret ever crossing his family. Phantom felt a stab of anger course through him as he abruptly reached forward, and seized the man by his collar. With a sharp tug, he pulled the victim onto the concrete, a cruel surge of glee racing through his veins as he heard the crack of the man's skull against the sidewalk.

The man stared wide-eyed at the sky, his heart pumping rapidly in his chest with every desperate breath. Phantom allowed himself another laugh, kicking the human while he was down, reveling the pathetic groans of a creature in pain.

For a brief moment, he wondered when his feelings towards humanity had changed. Hadn't he once fought _against_ the monstrous instincts inside of him? When had he gotten too weak to fight? But...then again, a part of him knew exactly _why_ things had changed, but his mind always shied away from the truth. Thinking about it was painful...

It was easier just to inflict the pain on others.

Phantom summoned a flaming ball of ectoplasm in the palm of his hand, slowly drawing it closer to the man's face. The dazed human whimpered and blubbered, too shocked to move, and too scared to scream for help. Phantom felt disgusted by how pitiful humanity really was. Had he ever been that way?

His fingers wrapped around the man's face, pushing the ball of spectral energy into his flesh, millimeter by millimeter. Now, the human found the guts to scream, but it was too late. His skin was burning away, popping like a pig skewered on a spit. Phantom continued his gristly deed, soon feeling hard bone beneath his white glove. Only then did he pull away.

The man wasn't yet dead, but his face was burned away beyond recognition. His breathing was raspy as he gasped for air like a mutilated fish, twitching pathetically on the pavement. Phantom stared for a moment, watching the human's useless struggles as he floundered helplessly, clutching at his face. Filled with disgust, the halfa quickly finished the job by plunging a long knife into his victim's heart, effectively ending the losing battle for life. In minutes, the man was dead, his body going limp as the life seeped out of him.

Phantom stepped back, admiring his work for a moment, before reaching down to take the man's briefcase and scattered papers. The halfa pulled his spoils into his arms, before taking off into the night, leaving the body behind on the sidewalk, to be discovered in the morning.

* * *

He perched on the windowsill of an expensive uptown apartment, cradling his prizes lovingly to his chest as he waited. Once more, he tapped on the glass, awaiting permission to enter and present his evening catch. He couldn't wait to show off what he had done. Pride swelled within him.

Finally, the window opened, and he promptly stepped inside, the ghost shield temporarily disabled in honor of his arrival.

Phantom held out the briefcase to the woman closing the window behind him, as proof of a job well done. Slowly, she approached, brushing her soft red hair from her eyes.

"That will show them all, Danny." She said, taking the briefcase from his outstretched hands, and snapping open the silver clasps.

"He's dead, Sister." The halfa replied "I burned off his face."

"Clever." The woman replied, shifting through the papers. "You're much smarter than all those teachers said."

She reached out, patting Phantom's head as if he were a dog.

"It looks as though everything is here." The woman mused to herself. "A very good job. Now I can continue my work in peace. Are you ready for the next test, Danny?"

"Yes, Sister." The young man replied with a sharp nod of his head. He watched as she began walking away, waiting until her back was turned to scratch at the metal panel covering his temple. He knew that he wasn't supposed to touch it...something about disrupting the wires, but it _always_ bothered him. It had been years ago when his sister had pried back his skin, and cut into his skull to attach the panel to his brain. The pain _never _went away.

His scratching had made the skin around the area red and inflamed, but he knew that Jazz would take care of it. She was his sister. She always took care of him...ever since mom and dad died.

Sure, she frequently used him in her experiments. And...maybe he sometimes acted as her super-powered hit man...but she still loved him...right?

Right?

His head hurt again...and he decided it was better not to think about it at all...

* * *

**Spy Guy: Surprise? Or predictable...or dumb? You decide, and let me know. That's what that button's for, don't cha know? **


	2. The Beginning

**Spy Guy: In honor of DP angst day, here is some angst. Some people asked for this fic to be continued, and although I don't have a lot planned for it, I can post little snippets when inspiration hits me. **

**This chapter goes back to the beginning, before Phantom was the killer seen in the first chapter. I hope it's clear. :D

* * *

**

_The things people were saying about the parents…the things that they both new were lies, Danny could clearly see how they were hurting his sister. _

_It hadn't been obvious at first, but now, he could see cracks forming in her normally calm exterior, a different face hidden behind a familiar mask. She had been spending a lot of time holed up in the lab. What was she doing down there? Danny had tried to ignore it, turning his grief towards ghost hunting, but, that didn't hide the fact that his sister was changing, and he didn't know what to do._

_They were at the dinner table, Jazz toying with the spaghetti Danny had tried to make. The boy was quietly plodding his way through his own meal, slurping down noodles with his face turned toward his plate. After a few minutes of awkward silence, Jazz sighed, setting her fork down on the table. She had barely eaten anything. _

_"You don't like it?" Danny asked. _

_The girl shook her head. _

_"It's good. I just had a big lunch." _

_It was the oldest lie in the book. The most cliche thing she possibly could have said. Danny knew his sister wasn't eating anything. All she was doing was spending her time in the lab, doing God knows what. He was trying to keep their family together. The least she could do was make an effort too. _

_"I'm going to the lab." _

_Jazz got to her feet, crossing to the metal door separating the two rooms. Before Danny could even react, she was already gone, locking the door behind her with a loud _**_click_**_._

_No! He had had enough. If she was just going to ignore him all the time, what was the point of staying in Amity? He could do without Vlad breathing down his neck all the time, or the memories that lingered in the house like poison. He was tired of being ignored and alone in the house, while his sister locked him out of her life. _

_"Jazz!" the boy shouted after her. "Jazz, come on!" He heard his voice crack in his throat._

_He wanted to leave again. He felt like a hindrance to his sister, putting her future on hold. She wasn't spending any time with him. She wasn't talking to him. She didn't seem to want him around anymore. She had made him promise, after the last time he had run, not to try to leave her again. She had given him a long speech about family, and how they had to stick together. That had been roughly over two months ago…_

_Had she forgotten? _

_The boy knew that he couldn't keep living like this. He needed to confront her, to find out if she still loved him, or if she would rather he packed up his things and took to the streets again. He had places he could stay, places where he was loved by his friends. If his sister didn't want him, then Danny wasn't going to stay. _

_ The boy reached forward, taking the lab's doorknob in his fist. Why did Jazz always lock it? What was she doing that he couldn't see? What was she keeping secret from him?_

_"Hey, Jazz?" Danny called, leaning against the metal door. He shook the handle again, only further confirming the fact that it was locked. "I need to talk to you." _

_No one answered him. _

_"Jazz!" _

_Jazz was the only family he had left. His parents were gone. No one else wanted him. Jazz had dropped out of college to take care of him while he completed school. She had organized everything for the funerals, all the while keeping her emotions in check, just like she always did. She had helped Danny work through his grief, calming the rage that was festering in his heart. At what point had she changed? And why?_

_"I'm coming down!" _

_The boy reached forward, placing his hand against the cool metal of the lab door. It didn't burn. That meant that the ghost shield was off…Jazz must have forgotten about it. Phasing through the rest of the way, Danny cautiously made his way down the steps, an involuntary shiver running up his spine. The room was so cold…was it always like that? A part of him just wanted to run back upstairs. But, he knew that he couldn't, He had to confront his sister. _

_He had to. _

_The lab was bathed in a soft green glow. Most of the machines were idling, their fans running softly in the quiet darkness. Danny's eyes searched for his sister, but he didn't see her. He took a few more steps into the lab, before pausing, fear gripping his mind. _

_Where was she? _

_Suddenly, something tackled him to the ground, forcing his body to the frigid concrete. Danny yelped as his head made contact with the floor, an explosion of stars racing before his vision. Pain rocketed, and he could only stare blindly up at the strange humanoid shape pinning his arms to the floor. The creature's skin was cold…and it was green. Red eyes cut through the darkness._

_It was a ghost. A large, well-muscled ghost that looked like a gladiator, helmet and all. It callously forced the boy to his feet, holding his arms to his sides. Danny was too disoriented to find his ghost half. He knew that he should be doing something…but the room was suddenly spinning. He felt a warm liquid run down the side of his head. Blood? Was he bleeding? _

_"Are you alright, Danny?" A familiar voice called. The boy tried to find the source, his head moving sluggishly through the pain. _

_"Jazz?" He rasped. "What's going on?" _

_"Bring him to the table. But, be gentle." _

_Danny found himself being hauled across the room, and set down on a cold, metal surface. _

_"Jazz." He cried. "Tell me." _

_He tried to sit up, but the ghost's large hand simply pushed him down. That was followed by his wrists and ankles being cuffed to the table. He couldn't move, could barely understand what was doing on. He should have just run. He should have. _

_"Just stay calm, Danny. I promise. You're not going to feel a thing. It'll be over soon." _

_"What'll be over?" The boy demanded, his heart beating franticly in his chest. "Jazz, what are you doing?" _

_"I've been practicing. On a whole bunch of ghosts. You're going to be fine."_

_"Practicing what?" _

_"This." The girl said, reaching forward to remove the gladiator's helmet. The metal armor was pulled away, revealing disheveled black hair…and a shining metal plate imbedded into his forehead. Jazz was smiling, a strange demented smile that looked _**_wrong_**_ on her face. Jazz had always been the sane one. Always…_

_"I was studying psychology at college." The girl continued. "My professor always lectured about how certain parts of the brain affect behavior. So, I've been experimenting on how I can do what I want, without destroying you." _

_Danny couldn't believe what he was hearing. Jazz couldn't be saying those words. Jazz would never say those words. It just…wasn't something that she did. She was kind, and gentle. She cared about other's feelings, and helped them with their problems. _**_ This_**_…it wasn't her. _

_"Why, Jazz?" The boy demanded, struggling against his bonds. His head was starting to pound, and the room spin faster. It hurt so much…but…if Jazz was going to do to him what she had to that ghost…he had to get out!_

_ "I had to find a way to stop you from leaving me." His sister replied. "You were just going to do it again, eventually. I need help if I'm going to stop all those people who are dragging our parents' names through the mud. You can help me, Danny. You have power." _

_"You're—" _

_"This'll be better, in the end. We'll always be a family. We need each other, don't we?" _

_It had been _**_Jazz_**_ who had been pushing him away. It had been _**_her_**_ who had driven him to consider breaking his promise. He had trusted her, and vowed not to run away again, so she wouldn't have to feel lonely. She had convinced him that they had to both try hard to keep their family together. He had been trying…_

_And all that time, she had been _**_experimenting_**_. He couldn't believe that the person standing before him was his sister. If she loved him…she wouldn't be doing this._

_"Let me go." The boy pleaded. "Jazz, I won't leave again—" _

_"You will." The girl replied. "If you don't run away, you'll eventually have to go to college, or you'll fall in love, and get married and _**_leave me_**_. I'm not going to let that happen." For a moment, her face was twisted in rage, but then, it calmed, becoming soft, a smile curling over her lips. "We'll disappear, and make sure that no one disgraces our name ever again."_

_"Jazz! Don't do this! Please—" _

_Suddenly, there was a mask over his mouth and nose, gas rushing through a tube and into his lungs. The boy panicked, struggling like a wild animal, making guttural cries in the back of his throat. But, no matter how hard he tried, a firm hand held the mask to his face, and slowly…surely…his eyes flickered shut…and darkness overcame him…_

_

* * *

_

Phantom jolted awake, the pain in his head suddenly too much to bear. His fingers clawed at the metal plate as he tried to rip it from his flesh. He didn't want it there. It shouldn't be there. He wanted it to be gone so his head would stop hurting all the time. He started screaming as his human blood ran down his face. It hurt, it hurt so bad. He just wanted it to stop.

"Danny!" His sister cried, racing into the room where he slept. She held a syringe in her hand, and quickly maneuvered thehybrid into a headlock so she could sedate him. As the drug took effect, Phantom could feel his body growing limp in his sister's arms, the pain slowly dulling and becoming numb. He stared into his sister's eyes, his own beginning to brim with tears as he rested in her protective embrace.

"We're still…a family…aren't we?" The young man asked.

"Yes." The woman replied. "We are."

"Don't make me kill again." The boy whimpered, choking back a sob. "I don't want to do this anymore."

"Shhh." His sister hushed.

"Sister...please…"

"Go to sleep Danny. It won't hurt when you wake up."

"It always hurts." The halfa whimpered, his eyes flickering shut as the drug's effects finally reached their peak. "Always…"


End file.
